Art Center Fall 2016 Catalog: Total Redesign!

I redesigned the catalog of the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey this month. I took it as a chance to refresh the brand. As the Director of the Studio School, I need to make sure I am reaching and hearing all the people for whom I hope to serve. This catalog, along with the website and other communications, is my program’s lifeline.

Motif

The Art Center connects all levels of art makers to each other and the world. I started playing with these fairly oblique geometric shapes connecting elements to each other in the background. I will pull that thread until I find a way to talk about the entire organization: contemporary art museum, studio school, and community resource. I chose the color as a starting point as I venture through the spectrum until we all settle on a solid color story. In essence, I hope to gently beta test a few elements while I promote all that the Art Center already has in abundance: engaged staff, spectacular museum programming, great instructors, and a solid core of students and visitors. My goal is to create a playful side to the brand, one that allows for more visible evolution.

Team

I am working under the guidance of Executive Director Melanie Cohn and Director of Marketing Cynthia McChesney at the Art Center. They have welcomed me with open arms and have treated me as an equal from day one. They turned me loose, really, and fully empowered me to dive in. I cannot emphasize how crucial that sort of simple respect is to an artist and designer. I have had an almost vertiginous thrill this entire first month from the ability to actually make change on a daily basis.

Related

Libby Clarke is an artist, designer, and educator living in Brooklyn, NY. She received her BFA in Printmaking from James Madison University and her MFA in 2D Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Professionally, Libby has worked as an interaction art director for over 12 years for such companies as Agency.com and Scholastic.com. Currently, she serves as an Assistant Professor at the New York College of Technology in Brooklyn, New York. As an artist, Libby has produced a series of multi-media conceptual products under the name Monstress Productions since 1996. She gives workshops and lectures across the United States on the intersection of art, activism, and technology, and her pieces are exhibited and collected internationally.